When the Department of Health observed Cancer Consciousness Week in January 2008, it cited breast cancer as the top cancer killer of Filipino women.  It didn’t say, though, that we rank highest in breast-cancer incidence in Asia and ninth worldwide.

Do we lag behind in the use of technologies against breast cancer? 

No, says Dr. Alejandro C. Dizon, general surgeon with the Breast Center at St. Luke’s Medical Center, who sheds light on breast cancer surgery and how this impacts patient care.


Dr. Alejandro C. Dizon, general surgeon at the Breast Center of St. Luke’s Medical Center

Modified radical mastectomy (MRM)

“Well, if you’re dealing with early breast cancer, the first line of treatment is surgery. We usually reserve chemotherapy as a first line in the more advanced cases.  For the early cases, it’s still surgery that has proven to be the most effective in terms of treatment,” says Dr. Dizon, adding that when it comes to surgery, the gold standard today is the Modified Radical Mastectomy (MRM).  The procedure involves removing all the breast tissue, including the overlying skin, plus the axillary lymph nodes, the lymph nodes in the armpit.

“The reason we do that is partly for staging and, of course, to lessen the chances [of spread], if ever there’s already cancer in the lymph nodes,” Dr. Dizon explains. “That’s included in the staging of cancer: the size, the lymph node status, and the presence or absence of metastasis.”

Enter breast-conservation surgery (BCS)

Because of the aesthetic downside of MRM, Breast-Conserving Surgery—(BCS) has become a favored alternative for many patients today. “You basically preserve the breast—just remove the area of the tumor plus normal tissue around it.  Then you run after the lymph nodes also, through a separate incision…remove the lymph nodes as well,” says Dr. Dizon .

For the rest of the article, please see the July – September 2008 issue.

 
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